Electric-railway system.



E. J. MURPHY.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLIoATIoN r1LED Nov.a, 1913.

1,1 12,548. Patented oct. 6, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Zz/y1,

THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHUlU-LIIHO.. WASHlNrrnN. D, CV

E. J. MURPHY. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1913.

Patented 00's. 6, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE Numvw rnmRS CO.. PHOTOLITHG., WASHINGTON, D4 C,

EDWARD J. MURPHY, OF GARY, IllDIi-NA, ASSG-EP'?,

F 01E-HALF TO LEONARD B.

eci/ir, or eaaminnia; a.

ELECTRIC-RAILW'AY SYSTEM.

To all whom t muy concern Be it known that l, EDWARD J. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Gary, county of Lake, and State of indiana, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Electric-Railway Systems, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to improvements in electrical railway systems and more specifically to means for transmitting the electrical energy from the conductor or feed wire of the system to the vehicle or'railway car which travels along the track of the system,

rlhe object of my invention is the production of a. system wherein the overhead conductor or feed wire will be dispensed with and wherein the portions orparts of the system through which theelectrical current is conducted will be protected so as to obviate injury or death which might follow from contact with these parts when` exposed.

A further object is the production of `a system as mentioned which will be of simple construction and efficient in operation.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed. v

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which- 'Figure 1 is a side elevation of a. fragment of the track of an electrical railway system, embodying my invention, a vehicle or electric car being shown in dotted lines mounted upon said track, F ig. 2 is an enlarged detail section taken on line :z3-rc of Fig. 1, F ig. 3 is an enlarged detail section taken on line g/-g/ of Fig. 1, Fig. is an enlarged verticalsection through one of the contact devices included in the construction, and Fig. l is a transverse section taken .online s-a of F ig. 1.

The preferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawings comprises a con-y ductor or feed wire 1 which extends along thel railway track incased in a casing 2 of insulating material, said conductor extending beneath the ties 8 of the track upon which the rails e are mounted in the usual manner.

Spaced along the track at intervals and Specification of Letters atent.

Application filed November 8, 1913.

Patented Got. 6, 1914.

seria?. no. 798,895.

mounted upon the ties 3 are electrical contact devices each of which comprises a cylin-` drical or circular housing 5 which is secured to the corresponding tie 3 by meansj of screws or other suitable fastening vdevices 6.

E he upper end of housing 5 is provided with a switch cover Z ybolted to said housing as shown. Arranged at the upper end of said housing is a cap 8 provided with a depending stem 9 which projects loosely through'a central opening provided in the cover plate 7 cf said housing being mountedin a metallic bushing or lining 10 of an insulating ring 11 formed preferably of glass. The ar-- rangement is such, as will be observedthat cap 8 is insulated from the housing 5 and so that, in the operation of the system any velectric current which may be conducted ltliior-.0'lrsaid cap will not pass intosaid housing and thus be grounded. v Arranged below the lower endof stem 9- is a disk 12 of insulating material lrigidly connected with said stem and heldY spaced fromthe'lower end thereof by means of straps 13. The disk 12 is provided with a central opening lined with a metallic bushing 14 in which is mounted for free vertical movement-the stem 15 of a soft iron disk 16. The arrangement is such that the member 1G will normally, by reason of gravity, as-

. plate 18 which is mounted upon an insulating block 19 secured to the tie 3, said plate 18 being connected by a conducting element 20 with the conductor or feed wire 1, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. T he conductor element 2Or extends thrcugha casing 21 of i insulating material in order to prevent grounding` of the circuit. With the arrangement disclosed then, it will be seenthat the member 16 is in vconstant,electricall connec tion with the conductor or feed wire 1, andthat electrical connection between said conductor or feed wire and the cap '8 vis normally broken, suchelectrical connection be- 2 niiasae ing eltected only upon magnetization of said cap since, upon such magnetization, the member 1G will be attracted into contact with the stem 9 which completes the electrical connection between said cap and the conductor or i'ieed wire.

ifirranged at the under side of the vehicle or car which is mounted for travel upon the rails Llan (-xlcngated contact member 23 upon the upper side of which are mounted electro-magnets Qd adapted to maintain the member 23 constantly inagnetiaed. rlhe contact member supported by posts 25 which are slidably mounted at their upper ends in guide members 2G secured upon and depending from the under sido ot the vehicle or car 22. The upper ends of the posts 25 are provided with transversely extending pins 2T wliichenn ge elongated slots 2S provided in the opposte sides ot guide members 26, the arrangement being such that the posts 25 and hence the contact member 9.3 will be supported by said members but in such a manner as to permit ci upward movement thereof. Helical compression springs 29 cooperate with the posts 25 to normally hold the same and hence the contact member at their lower terminals of movement. The guide members Q6 are insulated Yfrom the car by means of blocks 80 of insulating material. The contact member 23 is preferably formed of a plurality ot pivotally connected sections as shown so as to permit of flexing of the ends thereof during irregular or uneven movement ot the car.

The contact member 23 is arranged to contact with the contact A devices which are spaced along the track, the former being adapted to engage against the upper sides of the caps 8 of said. contact devices during the travel of the car, said contact devices being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the length ot the member 23 so that the latter will always be in contactI with at least one ot said contact devices during the travel of the car. As the member 28, which is in a state ot magnetization by reason of the electro-magnets 24k; contacts successively with the Contact devices spaced along the track, each cap of said contact devices, as the same is engaged by said member 23, will become magnetized and thereby attract the corresponding member 1G into engagement 'therewith. Vllhen this is done the electrical connection of the conductor or feed wire; with the contact member 23 will be completed and thus the car will be supplied with its electrical current or energy to effect propulsion thereof. is the contact member 23 moves from engagement with the contact devices passed over, the caps 8, of said contact devices will demagnetize which effects release of the members 16 resulting in the breaking ot the electrical connection between the conductor or feed wire 1 and the caps 8. rl'hus7 with this arrangement it will be seen that the portions ot the system through which current is constantly passing' or which are alive are constantly concealed so as to avoid death or injury which might result fro .i contact therewith. The annular dcpending 'lange ot' the cap 8 which surrounds the upper end of housing 5 serves as a protection in damp or rainy weather to prevent current leakage will be understood by those skilled in the art. By yieldingly supporting the contact member 23, in the event of a depression in the track rails, said contact member will yield upwardly to compensate for such depression, as will be readily understood. Also; through the vertically movable mounting of the cap 8 of the contact devices, in the event of an elevation in the track rails said cap will move upwardly through attraction of the member 23 into contact therewith. rl`hus with this arrangement a constant engagement ot the contact member 3 with the contact devices is always insured.

`While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction tor carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit ot the invention. l, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself ot' such variations and modiiications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the kind described comvprising a hollow body; an upper contact member slidably mounted in said hollow body; a guide carried by said Contact member; a lower contact member mounted in said guide, both of said contact members iaving` portions capable of becoming magnetized; and a magnet above said upper contact member adapted to draw the latter into engagement therewith and said lower contact member into engagement with said upper Contact member, substantially as described.

2. A device of the kind described comprising a hollow body; an upper contact member slidably mounted in said body and insulated therefrom; a guide carried at the lower end ot said contact member; a lower contact member insulated from and mounted in said guide, a portion of said lower contact member being of sott iron; a HeXible electrical conductor connected with said lower contact member; and a movable magnet adapted to move over said'upper contact member at varying distances therefrom, said magnet when over said upper contact member drawing the latter into engagement therewith and said lower contact member into engagement with said upper contact member electrically connecting said contact members, substantially as described.

3. A. device of the kind described comprising a hollow7 body having a top with a perforation therein; a contact member of soft iron having a stem slidably mounted in and electrically insulated from said peroration; a cap secured to said stem limiting the downward movement of said contact member; a guide carried by and depended from said contact member; a second Contact member mounted in said guide and electrically insulated therefrom; a soft iron disk secured to the upper end of said last mentioned contact member; an electrical conductor having one end connected with the lower end of said last mentioned contact member; and a magnet adapted to be positioned at different distances from said rst mentioned contact member, draw the latter into contact therewith and draw said second mentioned Contact member into engagement with said first mentioned contact member establishing electrical connection through said electrical conductor, contact members and magnet, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof- I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD J. MURPHY.

Witnesses:

JOSHUA R. H. Poms, HELEN F. LILLIs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1D. C. 

